Thanks, Raul. I'm very familiar with the published information...
But as some of those authors point out - what people say about flying
and what people do _when_ flying are sometimes different. :-)

That's why I was looking for some anecdotal responses from competition
pilots... How often are they taking big climbs (regardless of whether
its a great thermal)? How often are they driving far enough between
thermals to lose 2000' or more in altitude between climbs?

Take care,

--Noel